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Indonesian cultural festival brings the atmosphere of Batavia to Australia
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Amidst the rain, the two-hours event presented some popular icons of the city, among them were Ondel-ondel (the giant Betawi effigy) and traditional food. (IndoFair 2017/File)
T
he atmosphere of Batavia, the old name of Jakarta, came alive during the fourth installment of Indonesian cultural festival IndoFair. Held on May 10, the festival took place at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Kelvin Grove A Block Lawn, Brisbane, Australia.
Amid the rain, the two-hour event presented some popular icons of Batavia, among them were Ondel-ondel (the giant Betawi effigy), food like ‘lontong sayur’ (rice cake with vegetable stew in coconut milk soup) as well as ‘nasi uduk’ (steamed rice cooked in coconut milk with side dishes) and the famous dessert ‘es cendol’ (green tapioca 'noodles' served with coconut milk and liquid palm sugar).
An Indonesian students’ band performed all-time popular tracks from Indonesian singers, including Zamrud Khatulistiwa and Cintaku by the late singer Chrisye. There was also a cracker-eating challenge, Oleg Tamulilingan dance performance and a batik fashion show from Nilam Sembagi, a retailer which sells an array of hand-drawn batik clothing as well as ethnic accessories.
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The annual IndoFair is the result of collaboration between the Indonesian Student Association of QUT (ISAQ) and QUT Student Engagement. It was attended by the university’s students and staff as well as Indonesian communities in Brisbane.
“The event is fully sponsored by our campus to celebrate the diversity of culture in our university, one of them is Indonesian culture,” said Mitzi Christie, the project officer of IndoFair 2017. “Aside from promoting Indonesian culture to our international friends, the event also aims to strengthen the connection among Indonesian students in Brisbane.” (asw)
